Reel



May 7, 1963 J. s. MGGLAUGHLIN 3,088,692

REEL

.Filedpam 12. 1961 IN VENTOR.

JAMES S. McGL/IUGHLIN AATTOR/YEY United States Patent O 3,08%,692 REELJames S. McGlaughlin, 16595 Shaftsbury, Detroit 19, ltiieli. Filed Jan.12, 1961, Ser. No. 82,260 1 Claim. (Cl. 242-118.@

This invention relates to reels Iand particularly heavy duty reelssuited to storing and shipping wire in considerable lengths.

An advantageous type of wire-receiving reel has been formed by clampinga sheet metal drum between a pair of end plates considerably thickerthan the drum-forming sheet, each having a circular series of slots toreceive tongues projecting endwise from the drum, -such tongues beingbent against the exterior faces of the plates to maintain the assembly.In such 1a reel, the slots must have a radial dimension at leastslightly exceeding the thickness of the tongues, so that the tongues maybe concurrently inserted in the slots fwithout undue diiculty.Consequently the tongues have been alforded a slight radial play in theslots, with a resultant slight localized clearance sometimes occurringbetween the drum and outer margin of one or more of the slots. InWinding quite fine wire on the described reel, a short length of suchwire may be forced into any such clearance and may thus set up undueresistance when being eventually unwound.

An object of the invention is to eliminate any such localized clearancebetween the drum and end plates of a reel as may entrap a portion ofline -wire and so resist unwinding of the Wire.

Another object is to rigidly secure the aforementioned tongues to theinterior face of the drum, and to form the tongues transversely thereofwith oifsets rmly engageyable by the end plates to eliminate any fissureor crevice, into which a portion of wire fed to the reel may be so drawnas to eventually interfere with free unwindin-g of the wire.

These Iand `various other objects are attained by the constructionhereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view of :a reel having my improved features.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary end view of the center portion of the reel.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary View showing one of the tonguesinterconnecting the drum with an end plate, the section being taken onthe line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a View sectionally showing a portion of the reel between thetongues, as indicated by line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

In these views, the reference character 1 designates a sheet-metaldr-um, preferably steel, formed by rolling a flat blank (not shown) tocylindrical form, the ends of the blank being lapped as indicated at 1aand securely joined, as by welding. rThe drum is coaxial with andclamped between a pair of circular end plates 2 of a diameter largelyexceeding that of the drum. Said plates `are of sheet material muchthicker than the drum-forming metal but considerably less dense, and areconsequently much stiffer than the drum. A preferred material for theplates is pressed board. To each end of the drum, interiorly thereof, aplurality of equally spaced tongues 3 are rigidly secured, preferably byWelding, and `similarly project beyond the 4drurn ends. The plates 2`are each formed with a circular series of slots 4, disposed in apattern conforming to that established by the tongues, so that thelatter may project through and beyond the slots as the plates `areabutted against the drum ice ends. The dimensions of the slotsmaterially exceed those of the tongues, thus facilitating registrationof the tongues with and their concurrent insertion in the slots, as thereel is assembled. In effecting assembly, the end plates are forcedagainst the drum ends under considerable pressure, so as to slightlyembed the lcircular edges of the drum in the inner faces of the plates.In completing assembly, the end portions of the tongues projectingbeyond the outer faces of the plates `are bent outwardly yfrom the reelaxis and -against the outer faces of the plates to strongly maintain theassembly. It is preferred to form the outer faces of the plates withcircular grooves 5 coaxial with the plates and located to fully receivethe bent ends of the tongues. This permits a `quantity of the reels tobe stacked one on another, 1using the full seating areas alforded by theplates.

A primary use of the described reel is for winding quite -ne wire, andit is vital to avoid any such crevice between the drum and plates as mayreceive and grip any portion of the wire, since this would set upmaterial resistance to unwindin-g, and would be likely to cause breakageof a fine wire. Rough usage or heavy stresses may tend to induce aslight displacement of one or more of the tongues in the slots 4receiving same, with consequent tformation of a small crevice orcrevices at the juncture of the outer face of the drum with one or bothof the plates. It has been found that this maybe avoided by forming eachtongue with a slight offset `6 located slightly inward yfrom thecorresponding end of the drum. These offsets form abutments for theinner faces of the plates, such abutments being :lirmly engaged by theplates under the heavy inward pressure lapplied during assembly, so that`formation of any crevice is avoided. As before stated, the formation of-any crevice at the drum edges between the tongues is avoided byslightly embedding the such edges in the plates.

Preferably, the plates are centrally formed with similar apertures 7 to-accommodate a mandrel (not shown) for imparting a rotational drive tothe reel.

For a desired capacity of wire, the described reel has ample strengthand ia minimum of weight.

What I claim is:

A reel comprising a cylindrical drum having substantially circular ends,la plurality of ilexible tongues -xed upon and against the interior faceof the drum at each of said ends and projecting beyond said ends in thedirection of the drum axis and spaced apart circumferentially of thereel, and a pair of plates substantially coaxial with the drum andabutting and penetrated by the drum ends, ysubstantially throughout thecircular extent of said ends, each plate being formed with a pluralityof circumferentially spaced slots respectively receiving the respectivetongues on the adjoined end of the drum, said tongues having outerportions iiexed to seat against the outer faces of the plates and beingoffset toward said axis in an inwardly spaced relation to the vdrumends, such oifsets yforming a'butments engaged by the inner faces of theplates, 4whereby the drum ends penetrate the plates in an outwardlyyspaced relation to the offset-s and the drum is reinforced by thetongues against radial flexure.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 898,398Wood Sept. 8, 1908 2,307,354 Braglio Jan. 5, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS406,804 Great Britain Nov. l, 1933

